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Evaluation

The evaluation had five aims:

1.      to provide a formative assessment of the environment and the modules that can inform the design lifecycle. Here the need is to provide material that the designer can use to enhance design and the modules, for example in terms of improving the interaction, developing other modules, providing material that will encourage links with other children and mainstream activities
2.      to assess the extent to which the environment and the modules succeed in nurturing the engagement of children with ASD, Children with ASD suffer from a triad of impairments. To what extent does the environment address these impairments, and provide opportunities for engagement
3.      to contribute a generic methodology which may be used to assess environments with similar aims
4.      to assess the extent to which the modules were designed to meet the underlying requirements, and the extent to which they met them in reality. The difference being that the modules might have been designed with requirements in mind, but design drift meant that initial requirements were ignored, or poor design resulted in the failure to achieve the requirements successfully.
5.      to provide insight into the operation of the PS environment in the school

The outcomes of the evaluation will be:
·        set of design recommendations for further development of the modules that can be used in iterative development
·        a critical reflection on the approach taken to the evaluation which can inform the research and development of other groups
·        an indication of the benefits individual children might have gained through experiencing the environment
·        a cost benefit assessment of the environment in terms of the school system, and provide recommendations for the use of future rooms

The evaluation focussed on:

·        the room and the activities that it supports
·        the functionality of the modules
·        the concept of PS in relation to the rest of the school
·        the benefits (or otherwise) the children derive from being in the space